Snap-in bulb socket

ABSTRACT

The body of the socket is made from a plastic material having a degree of resiliency in a manner to receive and support a pair of terminals located within a recess in which the base of a lamp bulb is insertable. An extension on each terminal projects into the body of the socket and is provided with barbs into which the wires of a pair of conductors are forced by a plug which urges the conductors apart as the plug is anchored within the body. The exterior of the body has securing means which supports the socket in an aperture in a lamp housing or other supporting member.

Elnited States Patent Schmidt et a1.

[ 5] Mar. 14, 1972 [541 SNAP-IN BULB SOCKET [73] Assignee: Microdot Inc.

[22] Filed: June 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 47,722

3,518,619 6/1970 DeLano ..339/127 R 2,849,697 8/1958 Farison ..339/127 R 2,908,884 10/1959 Wirsching ..339/99 R Primary Examiner-Joseph H. McGlynn Att0mey-Harness, Dickey & Pierce [5 7] ABSTRACT The body of the socket is made from a plastic material having a degree of resiliency in a manner to receive and support a pair of terminals located within a recess in which the base of a lamp bulb is insertable. An extension on each terminal projects into the body of the socket and is provided with barbs into which the wires of a pair of conductors are forced by a plug which urges the conductors apart as the plug is anchored within the body. The exterior of the body has securing means which supports the socket in an aperture in a lamp housing or other supporting member.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SNAP-IN BULB SOCKET SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a socket having a body made of plastic material which has a degree of resiliency and which is constructed to have a rectangular portion at one end and an annular portion at the other end. The angular portion contains a recess for a base of a lamp socket and an outwardly extending annular flange spaced from rectangular securing projections to provide an annular slot therebelow. Diametrically disposed webs join the opposite ends of two of the supporting projections to the flange. The projections are herein illustrated as four in number disposed 90 apart and so constructed as to extend through a cruciform aperture in a lamp housing or other supporting member and thereafter when the body is rotated to have the diametrically disposed webs pass from one corner to the other ofa pair of oppositely disposed recesses of the cruciform aperture. This limits the rotation of the body to approximately 45 and secures the body against reverse rotation unless a substantial force is applied.

A pair of like contact elements have a pair of spaced fingers extending outwardly from a base section in converging relation to form a terminal for a conductor extending downwardly from the base of the lamp bulb. Each base section has a strip portion extending into the rectangular end of the body which is provided with barbs facing inwardly which pierce the insulating sheath of a pair of conductors which are forced thereagainst by a plug disposed therebetween. The barbs engage the wires within the conductors thereby placing the terminals in conducting relationship with the wires. The central part of the interior of the body has a partition containing an aperture through which the head of the plug is forced and anchored so that the plug and the conductors become a unit part of the body and lock the terminals in fixed relation thereto. The annular flange has a sealing ring of elastomeric material applied thereto or formed thereon during the molding operation which engages the material containing the cruciform aperture to seal the body to the base ofa lamp housing or other supporting member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a broken plane view ofa socket inserted through a cruciform aperture in a lamp housing which is thereafter turned to dot and dash line position to secure the socket to the housing which embodies features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 22 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2. taken on the line 33 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation of one of the contact elements, two of which are employed within the body of the socket, and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 4, taken on the line 5-5 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention pertains to a socket having a body 11 made from a plastic material having a degree of resiliency so that it is slightly deflectable. The body 11 is of substantially rectangular form at one end and of cylindrical form at the other with an outer annular flange 12 therebetween. A recess 13 for a lamp bulb extends inwardly from the end of the body which is of cylindrical form. Securing projections 14, herein illustrated as four in number disposed 90 apart, extend outwardly from the recessed end to be positioned above and in space relation to the annular flange 12 forming a slot 15 therewith. A cruciform aperture 16 is provided in a base 17 ofa lamp housing or other supporting member through which the securing projections 14 are insertable. A pair of oppositely disposed securing projections have opposite edges provided with a web 18 which bridges the slot 15 and joins the securing projections to the annular flange 12. A sealing ring 19 is secured to the annular flange 12 on the side facing the base 17 against which it is compressed upon the insertion of the securing projections 14 through the cruciform aperture 16 and the rotation of the body 11 thereafter. The webs l8 deform slightly during the rotation of approximately 45 until they strike the edge of opposite recesses of the aperture to extend into a corner thereof and secure the body in locked position from which a positive force is required to rotate the body to released position. When in locked position, the sealing ring 19 seals the socket to the base 17 of the lamp housing.

Two like conducting elements 21 are supported within the body 11 in spaced facing relation to each other. Each conducting element has a base section 22 from which two fingers 23 extend upwardly converging toward each other and outwardly deflected at the ends. The bottom of the fingers 23 are extended rearwardly at 24 and forwardly at 25, the latter being bent outwardly to engage the side walls of the hollow interior 26 of the body. The rear end of the base section 22 has a conducting strip 27 extending downwardly at right angles thereto and provided with a pair of barbs 28 which extend inwardly into the hollow interior 26 of the body. A recess 29 is provided in the facing end walls of the hollow interior 26 of the body which receive the conducting strip 27, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 2.

A pair of spaced conductors 31 extend within the hollow interior 26 of the body and are urged against the conducting strips 27 by a plug 32 which forces the conductors apart and onto the barbs 28 which pierce through an insulating sheath 33 thereof into conducting wires 34 therewithin. The inner end of the plug 32 has a head 35 which passes through an opening in a partition 36 within the body and locks the plug therein. This secures the conductors 31 to the conducting strips 27 and maintains a conducting relation between the wires 34, the barbs 28, the conducting strips 27 and the fingers 23 forming the terminals.

The body is mounted on the base 17 of the lamp housing or other supporting member having the cruciform slot 16 therein. The end of the body having the recess 13 for the lamp base is inserted through the cruciform slot 16 and rotated substantially 45 to move the securing projections 14 onto the portions 37 between the notches forming the slot. The webs 18 pass along the edge of the pair of oppositely disposed notches into an opposite corner thereof which stops the further rotation of the socket body 11 and retains the socket in mounted position upon the base 17 of the lamp housing or supporting member. This not only retains the socket on the base 17 but also retains the sealing ring 19 in sealed engagement therewith. The material of the body 11 has sufficient resiliency to permit the webs 18 to pass along the edge of the pair of notches of the cruciform aperture and to stop the rotation of the socket which is retained in secured position requiring a positive force to be applied to rotate the socket in the opposite direction so that it can be removed.

We claim:

1. In a socket, a body having a recess at one end for supporting a base ofa lamp bulb in engagement with a contact, a conducting strip extending from said contact into the end of the socket opposite to that having the lamp bulb receiving recess, said strip having barbs extending therefrom and projecting inwardly of the body, a plug having anchoring means thereon insertable in said opposite end and ofa dimension to engage and force the end sections of a pair of insulated wire conductors toward said strip and the insulation of said conductors over said barbs sufficiently to cause said wire conductors to move into conducting relation with said barbs, and anchoring means within the socket engageable with the anchoring means on the plug for locking the plug in firm fixed relation therein and the end sections of the wire conductors in conducting relation with the barbs.

2. In a socket as recited in claim 1, wherein a pair of spaced contacts are disposed within the bulb receiving recess having conducting strips extending downwardly therefrom into said opposite end of the socket with the barbs thereon presenting inwardly toward each other, and wherein said plug is insertable between said strips and the end sections of the pair of insuis made of plastic material having an annular flange adjacent to the end having the lamp bulb receiving recess, and four securing projections molded with the body portion and located above said annular flange providing a slot therebetween. 

1. In a socket, a body having a recess at one end for supporting a base of a lamp bulb in engagement with a contact, a conducting strip extending from said contact into the end of the socket opposite to that having the lamp bulb receiving recess, said strip having barbs extending therefrom and projecting inwardly of the body, a plug having anchoring means thereon insertable in said opposite end and of a dimension to engage and force the end sections of a pair of insulated wire conductors toward said strip and the insulation of said conductors over said barbs sufficiently to cause said wire conductors to move into conducting relation with said barbs, and anchoring means within the socket engageable with the anchoring means on the plug for locking the plug in firm fixed relation therein and the end sections of the wire conductors in conducting relation with the barbs.
 2. In a socket as recited in claim 1, wherein a pair of spaced contacts are disposed within the bulb receiving recess having conducting strips extending downwardly therefrom into said opposite end of the socket with the barbs thereon presenting inwardly toward each other, and wherein said plug is insertable between said strips and the end sections of the pair of insulated wire conductors for forcing the conductors toward the strips and onto said barbs which pass through the insulation and engage the end sections of the wire conductors.
 3. In a socket as recited in claim 2, wherein the insulated wire conductors on opposite sides of the locking plug secure the conducting strips in fixed relation within the socket body.
 4. In a socket as recited in claim 2, wherein the body portion is made of plastic material having an annular flange adjacent to the end having the lamp bulb receiving recess, and four securing projections molded with the body portion and located above said annular flange providing a slot therebetween. 